This was the first job we did, real early for us. Pretty basic wall. I didn't like how the customer wanted to keep the existing boulders adjacent to the foundation, or the narrow stairs. But, the stairs didn't come out as hokie as I thought they would.

GreenMonster

07-03-2006, 01:31 PM

This was a pretty basic AB wall, with a couple pulls of grid. The little stream in front of the wall turned into a raging river during the flood we have in May. Wall seems to have held up well. This job ended up being a bit of a CS when we ran into a bunch of large pine stumps that were buried over during the construction.

GreenMonster

07-03-2006, 01:39 PM

This was one of my favorite jobs so far. Walls, walks, entry, plantings. A lot of times we just do the hardscape, only for the homeowner to screw it all up by doing there own plantings. I like how it all came out, except for the customer's choice of a few perennials.

We also did irrigation for the front and back. This was our first real irrigation job as well. three turf zones out back, two turf zones out front, and drip through all the new plantings.

Here are the b4's

GreenMonster

07-03-2006, 01:48 PM

Here's a few after during and after pics. This is all Techo-Block stuff.
Quarry wallstone and Athena pavers.

I don't know about you guys, but I really like this Techo stuff. I'm quickly becoming a big fan.

oh yeah, Marcus already made fun of me about the downspouts, so keep it to yourself:nono: The gutters are being routed elsewhere.

GreenMonster

07-03-2006, 01:51 PM

A few more from the Techo job

cleancutccl

07-03-2006, 03:52 PM

Nice looking techno wall, quick question. How high do you have your pavers next to the wall before tamping to make sure they are level after tamping? I always seem to end up with one being higher than the other.

GreenMonster

07-03-2006, 04:56 PM

Nice looking techno wall, quick question. How high do you have your pavers next to the wall before tamping to make sure they are level after tamping? I always seem to end up with one being higher than the other.

3/8"........

kris

07-03-2006, 06:16 PM

Looks good Mark ... in post #5 first pic, right hand corner of the wall..is it leaning forward?

I love the way you incorparated the boulder into the wall.

Green-Pro

07-03-2006, 08:51 PM

Super work GM. Gotta tell ya I love checkin your job pics out they never fail to inspire, good, good, stuff!!
Only thing I wondered about was that boulder along the walk way, just curious as to why you would build around it as opposed to moving it over a bit? Don't get me wrong the walkway looks great, just visually the slight indent to allow for the rock detracts a little for me.

kris

07-03-2006, 09:17 PM

or get me wrong the walkway looks great, just visually the slight indent to allow for the rock detracts a little for me.

Ya does for me too although the quality looks of the work held me back from commenting ... We all have a different eye including customers, so ..well, you never know ...its all art.

Nice looking boulder that looks like it is there for a reason...a bench. I probably would have done a nice smooth curve with the walk and bring the boulder resting on the walk a few inches .... you could do a shrub bed along the whole walkway or simply a smaller shrub bed around the boulder to really dress it up.

Great looking walls and steps.

Dirty Water

07-03-2006, 10:00 PM

Mark, if your going to dive into the world of irrigation, you should head over to our little section of lawnsite. The more contributors the better :)

Jobs look great too.

GreenMonster

07-03-2006, 10:34 PM

Mark, if your going to dive into the world of irrigation, you should head over to our little section of lawnsite. The more contributors the better :)

Jobs look great too.

Yeah, Jon I plan on visiting. I do have some questions for the pros, but I just haven't had the time.

Green-Pro and Kris, yeah you're right about the rock. The plan was to build it slightly into the walk as you described Kris, and then I completely spaced it. I talked with the cust and we decided to still put it in. The indent is really just a curve that seemed to flow a little better before the rock was there. But, it's a sitting rock that we put for the little girl in the family -- you know, kinda a special rock for her.

No, Kris, the wall isn't leaning. After I initially saw the pic, I thought the same thing, but a level confirms we're good. I was nervous, because I did very little work on it, but the guys did a real nice job, especially with the cuts. I also found out when laying the pavers, the stairs are off to the house about 2". so, I had to pick up the pavers and lay them on a 45 so it wasn't noticeable.

Mike33

07-03-2006, 11:01 PM

This was a pretty basic AB wall, with a couple pulls of grid. The little stream in front of the wall turned into a raging river during the flood we have in May. Wall seems to have held up well. This job ended up being a bit of a CS when we ran into a bunch of large pine stumps that were buried over during the construction.
Very nice looking work. I do alot of ab walls www.bobcatservice33.com pic # 3 not to be negative i would of kept running the end in to the bank so the wall fades in the ground instead of stopping like that, Just a tip all of your work looks nice.
Mike

dcondon

07-03-2006, 11:08 PM

Very nice looking job Mark. I wish I could do that!!!!!!!!!!!! It may take a few years:walking:

GreenMonster

07-16-2006, 08:14 PM

Here's a little driveway -- actually more of a parking area we did with Techo Olympia. The walkway is with Techo Allegro, and the wall, much to my dismay, is AB Europa.

Eat your wheaties when working with the Olympia. 3" thick, the 12"x12" are HEAVY.

This was the first job we used our new 5700# Whacker on. Glad we had it for this one.

lawncare18

07-16-2006, 08:26 PM

Very very nice greenmonster... keeping busy up in nh this year ?? rain must have you behind to i would expect...

GreenMonster

07-16-2006, 08:35 PM

Very very nice greenmonster... keeping busy up in nh this year ?? rain must have you behind to i would expect...

Very busy, but yes, the rain has been killer. If it's not raining, we're usually finding it in places you wouldn't expect to. Water table is pretty close to the top right now. We're about 3 weeks behind where I had hoped to be right now.

lawncare18

07-16-2006, 08:45 PM

Dam!!! Hope you catch up.. people must understand though... to the point of working 7 days a week yet to get caught up?

Drafto

07-16-2006, 10:32 PM

Mark,

Howcome you chose Athena over Elena for the walkway? Athena is a thicker more expensive paver but lays in the smae manor as Elena. I am just curious.

Dan

GreenMonster

07-17-2006, 04:16 PM

Mark,

Howcome you chose Athena over Elena for the walkway? Athena is a thicker more expensive paver but lays in the smae manor as Elena. I am just curious.

Dan

I know. Customer wanted the bigger pavers. I wasn't sure how it would look in a 4' walkway, but it looks good, IMO

D Felix

07-17-2006, 05:48 PM

pic # 3 not to be negative i would of kept running the end in to the bank so the wall fades in the ground instead of stopping like that, Just a tip all of your work looks nice.
Mike
Mike beat me to it. :) I was going to comment on it as well; running it an additional 2 feet or so into the hill would have saved the step-down and would have looked better, IMHO.

So your first set of pics, are those VL Cobbles, or have you even attempted anything VL yet? :waving:

Eat your wheaties when working with the Olympia. 3" thick, the 12"x12" are HEAVY.
Sounds like the large squares of Mega-bergerac from Belgard. Had the pleasure of mixing those with the 3-piece last fall/winter... My back still hurts!

GreenMonster

07-18-2006, 02:28 PM

So your first set of pics, are those VL Cobbles, or have you even attempted anything VL yet? :waving:

No, sorry Dan. Those are Ideal Roman Pisa.

I haven't used VL yet, but do have a job coming up with VL Standard units. Somewhere around 60'x4' with stairs. I'll let you know if VL is all is cracked up to be :D

I have been selling less and less AB and more and more Techo though. The ability to backfill more than one course at a time is like a dream that I don't want to wake from. I dread the next AB project. :cry:

mbella

07-18-2006, 07:30 PM

Mike beat me to it. :) I was going to comment on it as well; running it an additional 2 feet or so into the hill would have saved the step-down and would have looked better, IMHO.

So your first set of pics, are those VL Cobbles, or have you even attempted anything VL yet? :waving:

Sounds like the large squares of Mega-bergerac from Belgard. Had the pleasure of mixing those with the 3-piece last fall/winter... My back still hurts!

Dan, have you used any VL double sided block?

D Felix

07-19-2006, 10:32 PM

The only double-sided VL I've used has been standards with the backs split off for a free-standing wall.

Somehow I've got the feeling that's not what you are referring to!:)

mbella

07-22-2006, 09:21 PM

The only double-sided VL I've used has been standards with the backs split off for a free-standing wall.

Somehow I've got the feeling that's not what you are referring to!:)

Yep, that's it. I could never get a firm date of availability for Versa Lok double sided when ordering, so I never placed an order. Last year, they would literally tell me it could be two weeks or two months. I don't know about you, but that doesn't work for me. I knew that all they did (when they had time) was manually split the block. The variable was when would their guys have time to do it.

This year, we started using the stretchers and cobble pieces and making our own double sided on site. I like the way it looks and it has definitely made us more competetive.

An added bonus is that we can use the waste from making the double sided as a veneer on facing applications.

Only problem we had was we needed a longer top blade for the block splitter we had (think it may have been a Probst, but not sure- it was yellow and had an adjustment screw on each end, if that helps!). The screws that held the blad in caught each side of the splitting groove and didn't split it as nicely as we would have liked. A little bit of hammer work took care of it though.

Our VL supplier never had problems with making the product. The problem they were having last year was they just couldn't ship it out fast enough. Don't know if that's still the case now, as the company I'm working for is primarily using Belgard/Keystone material...

mbella

07-22-2006, 10:01 PM

The only problem we have is making corners. Upon splitting the corners, we are left with grooves from the mold. We dye a mortar mix and patch as needed.

mbella

07-22-2006, 10:03 PM

BTW, Dan, it's good to see you posting here again on a regular basis.

D Felix

07-22-2006, 10:11 PM

Try turning your block over so they are upside down. The grooves are less noticeable, and you can "ease" them some with a hammer to blend them in.

Definately turn them over for columns!

I don't know how much longer I will be posting regularly.... I just started a side job today, spent 8 hours moving part of a hill with a skidsteer that was really too small for the job... I'm thinking that I'll be busy with that job until deer season rolls around (Oct. 1), then it'll be done until next spring! :D I'll be working a couple nights a week, and most of the weekends. Family time will suffer, so computer time will be cut WAY back, especially since we've got a 2 month-old in addition to our 3 year-old now...

I'll post pics eventually! :rolleyes:

Mark, sorry if we've de-railed your thread!

mbella

07-22-2006, 10:22 PM

Try turning your block over so they are upside down. The grooves are less noticeable, and you can "ease" them some with a hammer to blend them in.

Definately turn them over for columns!

I don't know how much longer I will be posting regularly.... I just started a side job today, spent 8 hours moving part of a hill with a skidsteer that was really too small for the job... I'm thinking that I'll be busy with that job until deer season rolls around (Oct. 1), then it'll be done until next spring! :D I'll be working a couple nights a week, and most of the weekends. Family time will suffer, so computer time will be cut WAY back, especially since we've got a 2 month-old in addition to our 3 year-old now...

I'll post pics eventually! :rolleyes:

Mark, sorry if we've de-railed your thread!

Dan, not sure who your V LOk manufacturer is, but ours is B&O. There is no way we can just turn ours over. They definitely need some patching.

Anyway, good luck with the family. We have an 18 month old and one due any day, so I FEEL your PAIN.

Keep posting as much as time will allow.

D Felix

07-23-2006, 03:27 PM

IIRC, the main "locking" groove in the standard units had a break in them in the middle 3-4 inches, and it was solid throughout. There were other smaller grooves in the block that I don't know the purpose of, but the middle 3-4 inches of the block was solid- front to back, top to bottom- no grooves.

Turning our block over hid the smaller grooves, the main locking groove never was an issue when splitting the block in half.

GreenMonster

09-29-2006, 12:45 PM

Here's a few more pics of some other work this season.

This is a techo-bloc quarry stone wall, which is personally, my favorite manufactured block. As close to the real thing as you can get, IMHO.

We're actually going back here next week for a few reasons.
1. Techo mislabeled the circle kit and now it must be changed out. It was the first thing to go down, we've never used Majove Beige, and didn't realize the color was wrong -- it's really "tan".

2. Customer wants to extend the wall a little further to the road, because no one in the development can see the wall as they come in.

GreenMonster

09-29-2006, 12:49 PM

The never ending job of add-ons. Every night the homeowner came home, he added a little walkway here, and little wall there. Finally, he decided to do 40' more walkway on the side of the house, a 850 ft2 patio, and irrigation. We had to pull off the job and get some other stuff done. We'll be going back hopefully in Mid-Octobor.

This is Techo Creta and Allegro pavers in Rusty Grey. I'm not crazy about all the decorative stone, but customer likes it (his idea).

There's a picture of the wall sitting on about a 3' footer. We dug and dug until we got out of loam (yes, there was 3' worth of loam there).

This is a spec house for a builder we started working for. Techo Hera in Earth Brown... yes, I love Techo-Bloc

Builder got close to 1000 ft2 of sod that was leftover from a big job we did done the street. It was his lucky day

GreenMonster

09-29-2006, 12:59 PM

This is one of the larger jobs we've ever done. Basically, take this sand pit and turn it into a yard.

Patio work, walkways, plantings, irrigation, sod

Here's what the place looked like before, and also some pictures of quite possibly the worst installed patio I have ever seen. The clowns that put in the patio last fall did basically NO base work whatsoever. There are 6" boulders no more than 2" below the pavers in some spots. We couldn't convince the homeowner to let us tear it up and rebuild. A shame, they paid good money for it too.

The backyard walkway and patio is Bolduc, the front patio is Techo Santorini which turned out to be kinda nice.

GreenMonster

09-29-2006, 01:02 PM

More pics. Sod was rolled out by the turf farm. 18k+ on the ground in less than 4 hours. That's with a pretty good front slope too. This is the ONLY was to do sod over a large area.

GreenMonster

09-29-2006, 01:05 PM

here's the front patio... yes, they wanted a patio out front. Most of this wasn't my design.... just giving the homeowner's what they wanted.

Some of the back walkway and patio additions too. We did the wall and firepit around the patio, but not the actual patio itself.

GreenMonster

09-29-2006, 01:11 PM

Allan Block... ugh. I'm sorry if I ever led anyone to believe that AB was a good product. This is likely the last AB job I do.

To make matters worse, we added on to two existing AB walls. Of course AB is not only longer now, it's also 1/2" taller. hence, the granite post on the corners where old meets new. Major PITA!!!!

GreenMonster

09-29-2006, 01:12 PM

Here's the two walls we added onto. Yes, that handrail is temporary :)

GreenMonster

09-29-2006, 01:22 PM

This is another good size job we're doing. Patio, walkway, trees, shrubs, irrigation, lawn, etc. Here's some walkway and b4 pics. Final pics will come soon.

Front walkway is Techo Allegro in Sandlewood

GreenMonster

09-29-2006, 01:25 PM

This is an overall shot of the front. The driveway will be lined with fruit trees, and there will be lawn on the right. Here's the T190 with the new 36" bit..... nice.

Some b4 backyard pics too.

lawncare18

09-29-2006, 03:43 PM

Do I see a new truck in the background there???

GreenMonster

09-29-2006, 04:26 PM

Do I see a new truck in the background there???

um, nope. Last new (used) truck was bought last summer. I did finally break down and buy a 16' enclosed trailer for hardscape/irrigation. We also got a Bobcat MT52 a few months back. Nice little unit that is very handy on lots of jobs. It even runs the 36" auger bit without a prob.

lawncare18

09-29-2006, 04:36 PM

NICE!!!! Get some picsa of it for me... keeping busy... bet your gona be reAL busy soon with leaf cleanups.

Mike33

09-29-2006, 07:22 PM

Nice work Mark, always enjoy looking at your pics and even now the effort to post them here.
Mike

To me, this job was a dissapointment. I don't do a lot of natural, so I was really looking forward to building a real nice bluestone walk with nice tight joints. Homeowner wanted large joints in order to plant within the walk, and abstract and jagged edges :hammerhead: She comes out and says, "the joints are to tight, I want it to look like I did it." So I said "grab that big piece on the end of the pallet and start helping".

Dirty Water

10-03-2006, 10:43 PM

Still looks good Mark, I think there is a market for both styles.

BTW, how do you like plowing with the MT52? You can shoot me PM or post in irigation so we don't hijack :D

GreenMonster

10-03-2006, 10:46 PM

Still looks good Mark, I think there is a market for both styles.

Yes, there is, and the more I look at it now, the more "ok" I am with it. I guess I just had a vision in my head of what is was going to look like, and then when it couldn't be realized, I was ticked for a while.

As far as plowing with the MT, it's ok. I had only plowed once with a DW before the MT, so I know that the DW is better suited, but I wasn't dropping 20K to install 4 systems this year with a dedicated puller. Instead, I dropped 17K, got a puller and got a mini skid that is useful on soooooo many different jobs. It was the right move for me, for now anyhow. I don't think it's the right set-up for an irrigation contractor doing systems all the time.

Dirty Water

10-03-2006, 10:52 PM

As far as plowing with the MT, it's ok. I had only plowed once with a DW before the MT, so I know that the DW is better suited, but I wasn't dropping 20K to install 4 systems this year with a dedicated puller. Instead, I dropped 17K, got a puller and got a mini skid that is useful on soooooo many different jobs. It was the right move for me, for now anyhow. I don't think it's the right set-up for an irrigation contractor doing systems all the time.

Today we were in a limited access job that our 410 was just to big for, so I was thinking about a Dingo...We don't do anything but irrigation though, so I don't know if its worth it like you said.

GreenMonster

10-04-2006, 07:50 PM

Today we were in a limited access job that our 410 was just to big for, so I was thinking about a Dingo...We don't do anything but irrigation though, so I don't know if its worth it like you said.

If you're strictly irrigation, I would think not. Again, it was a good choice for us because we can put the pipe puller on it, and also use it for building walkways (it's a GREAT machine for a small walkway/hardscape), plantings, etc. We used it in a tight area today to auger four 36" holes. nice, nice, nice.

Plus, on a big job, we can have one crew using the T190 and the other crew using the MT, and we're not fighting over one machine. It also fits nicely in the 16' hardscape/irrigation trailer, which is being moved from job to job anyhow, and has almost eliminated the need for the mini x on most jobs, other than for wall footers.

YardPro

10-04-2006, 09:01 PM

that is how we use our dingo.
it is aresome for excavating walkways. we use the oversided bucket (48") and can dig for a walkway in a snap. we can use it next for pouring and spreading the base...... great tool for small jobs, and a good tool even for larger jobs.

Sunscaper

10-04-2006, 10:01 PM

Gorgeous work. I wish we did things like that here.

GreenMonster

10-04-2006, 10:01 PM

that is how we use our dingo.
it is aresome for excavating walkways. we use the oversided bucket (48") and can dig for a walkway in a snap. we can use it next for pouring and spreading the base...... great tool for small jobs, and a good tool even for larger jobs.

Agreed. The best part is being able to drive over your gravel base to spread sand. A lot less damage to turf, simply because you can stay off of it so much more than with the full size skid.

GreenMonster

10-20-2006, 01:48 PM

here's some after pics of the large job I posted earlier.

Anybody find a good way to deal with poly sand that is located under the drip edge (besides gutters)? Keeps washing out on this one.

Here's the w-way & patio

GreenMonster

10-20-2006, 01:50 PM

Here's a few more of the plantings. some nice foliage too.

Crabs, pears, and cherries all up the drive.

We were also just contrated by the builder to install 43 trees, which is two decent sized green screens on other areas of the prop.

MarcusLndscp

10-21-2006, 12:31 PM

Boy, you're tough on yourself! I think that bluestone walk looks pretty sweet. I of course still do better than you, but really... I like it a lot. Tight joints look good but loose joints look awesome too when you make the joints consistent like you did. In many secondary type walkway apps I like the loose joints because of the ability to use softscape material in between them like you did. Maybe next year we'll sub you for more than just pavers. I still want a percentage for all the late night phone calls asking advice from me all summer though!!! HAHAHA
What's the good word this weekend? Working are you?

GreenMonster

10-21-2006, 09:54 PM

Boy, you're tough on yourself! I think that bluestone walk looks pretty sweet. I of course still do better than you, but really... I like it a lot.

What's the good word this weekend? Working are you?

yeah, worked today. We put in 40 trees. I like plantings... good margins :)
tomorrow, it's cord wood time :(

Yes, though, the consistent joints make it look good still. Like I said, the job has grown on me.

uh, you still do better than me??? That might be a true statement if you did anything other than drive around and/or push paper. Every friggin' time I call you, you're in a truck driving to a job (only to supervise that is), or in a meeting :rolleyes: . You outta try getting your hands dirty once in a while, pretty boy.

MarcusLndscp

10-22-2006, 08:25 AM

I know it's not quite the same but the other day we had a site meeting with the GC, architect, and our staff and it was raining so the site was quite muddy. Anyhow, in walking the site my feet got a little dirty and my pants also got a bit moist because of the water sheeting of my north face rain jacket!!! :) Got a new clean truck too....a nice 06 GMC 2500HD duramax with the allison transmission. The seats in the other one were dirty so I didn't want to get myself anymore dirty than I had to.
Honestly it's nice not emptying out 3 handfuls of sand and dirt from my pockets everyday when I get home